The Nifty 250: News of the day in so many words

CROSBY MP Claire Curtis Thomas is to stand down at the next General Election citing the demands of family life against those of being in Parliament and “moribund male MPs” who don't appreciate the difference.

The one-time “Blair babe” wrote in her letter to Gordon Brown that her constituency (which is to disappear in the next election) was her home and “its people have become my friends”, but Lib Dem Richard Clein, who is standing for the seat in the new Sefton Central, says she was heading for defeat anyway.

DAVID CAMERON’S WORK PLAN WILL EXPLOIT young people, according to Mersey MP Angela Eagle. The minister at the Department for Work and Pensions said the Conservatives' flagship “Youth Action for Work” programme would pay peanuts after it emerged the Tory’s work creation scheme would pay “benefits plus £1 an hour”. The Wallasey MP also warned it would undermine the minimum wage – something the Conservatives claim to support.

LIVERPOOL WILL PLAY HOST TO THE IRISH tomorrow, with recently ratified Lisbon Treaty being among the agenda items. Liverpool Hope University will host the annual meeting of the Political Studies Association of Ireland between October 9 and 11 – the first time the group has held its annual conference outside of Ireland.

A STUDENT HAS MIRACULOUSLY SURVIVED A 26FT plunge from a bathroom window. Chloe McDonough, from Childwall, fell into the street last weekend when she returned home from a night out in Leeds city centre. Despite suffering a catalogue of broken bones, the 20-year-old has regained consciousness and has been able to talk to her mum.

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